Need for Speed Unbound Standard | Xbox Series X|S Digital

EA knocked it out of the park with this one.

Unbound gives you a real sense of progression, and on the highest difficulty it’s a real exhilarating experience trying to gauge risk versus reward. It’s easier than you think to get busted by the cops and lose all your hard-earned cash and you have to play smart in order to start banking your winnings.

The cell-shaded art style had me doubting whether I’d like it or not before release, but I have to say it really gives the game a unique feel – there’s nothing else like it! If this is putting you off, I’d recommend giving it a go anyway. You might be pleasantly surprised!

The customisation is good, although it’s lacking some staple cosmetic parts from previous games and some of the AI racers have access to cosmetic parts that you can’t buy yourself which is frustrating.

The handling and boost system is tricky to get used to at the start, and the cars are slower than I initially expected to begin with, which made the early progression a bit of a chore at times but it has been refreshing to actually have a challenge in a modern racing game as everything is often far too dumbed down these days.

I’ve not played much multiplayer as I’m not too interested in this part of the game, so I’d recommend looking at some other reviews as well before you make your mind up if this is something you’d be interested in.

Overall, I’ve really been enjoying Unbound. I’ve not completed the story at the time of writing this review, but I’d definitely recommend it so far if you’re a car person that loves to create cool car builds and enjoys a challenge.